Every Second Counts

Galleries of paintings, sculptures, photographs, and priceless jewels surrounded me. There was so much to take in that I didn’t know where to start, and I couldn’t imagine going through the entire museum without looking at every object I could. Masterpieces were made to appreciate, and it wouldn’t be fare to anything if I didn’t notice something that may have been the most memorable.

I walked down the marble hallway, looking over every piece plastered to the wall and every figure standing, or sitting against the blue and white floor. It was darker than I had expected, but the dim light didn’t put any strain on my eyes, so it wasn’t too much of a bother.

Alone, I made my way to the dinosaur exhibit. No one else was here to admire the genius and mysteries of the world, only me, stepping lightly on the marble, careful not to disturb the bones around me.

Staring up at the teeth of the tyrannosauruses, I wondered if there was anything it couldn’t do. He may have been fierce, but was there someway to defeat him? I laughed at myself as I realized the comet, or whatever, that had whipped out every ancient animal on earth.

“Amusing how the animal with the most violent nature was the weakest?” startled at the new voice I jumped. Looking around me I tried to find the source of the voice, but it was impossible, it had become too dark. I focused on the voice, the man, but I couldn’t read his mind.

“Who’s there?” my voice was strong, it wasn’t like me to lack courage when something scared me.

“Darling Julia, you don’t know me, I promise.” My ears twitched as a loud thud came from every direction. It became clear that he had jumped down when I heard the scuffs of his feet.

Darting my silver eyes back and forth, I tried to listen harder for the scuffing, but it was useless. The high ceilings made every sound, going on within it, loud and echo the entire building.

“Fine,” I said, stepping back. “Since you know my name… mind telling me yours?” my eyes grew wide, I tried to enter his thoughts, but he had some sort of barrier that prevented anything from entering.

“My name? Well…” the scuffing stopped and a hand graced my shoulder. Turning around, I grabbed the man’s arm and twisted it behind his back. “You seem-uh-to be very forceful.” He groaned, my grip only tightening.

“Who are you?” I scornfully asked.

Taking in a deep breath, the man tried to speak, but he was loosing feeling in his body. Releasing his arm, I stared at him, “Now.” My arms stayed in front of me, ready to attack the man, if he chose to be an enemy.

Parting his dark hair, and move pieces that dangled in his face, he cleared his throat. “Merely a man… a friend perhaps?”

“I don’t need any friends… what do you want?” people never amazed me; there was never anything to ruin your lives for. Friends were just showing vulnerability, as was family and love.

Titling his head, I heard a crack, “I think you do Julia… I’ve been watching you.”

Rolling my eyes, I kept my guard up, but lowered my hands. “What is you name?” I demanded once again.

“Impatient… not a fine quality. Neither is attacking a friend though.” He smirked, leaving me with an unanswered question.

Flipping my long velvet hair, I started at the man. His eyes were hard to see, but they were focused on me, nothing more, he had broad shoulders draped with a long trench coat, and his hair, it was relatively short, spiky and out of his face. For a rude man, he pulled his looks off very well.

Scolding him, I forced a smile on my face, “Ignoring a question is an even worse quality, I do believe.”

“Not ignoring my dear… merely, avoiding,” the play of words fooled no one; in fact, it left me angrier than before.

“What’s your name? And how do you know mine?”

“I’ll answer your question, one at a time, if you answer mine.” He suggested.

“Whatever,” I sighed, leaning against one of the many benches scattered throughout the museum.

“My name is Chase,” he bowed a hello and went on, “Why are you in this establishment today?”

Feelings of doubt and insecurity were floating in the air once he claimed his name. “I’m here because…” I caught my words, hoping he would notice. The decision to lie was on the table, but I decided against it, “I’m here to investigate something that has been a mystery in my family for years.

“How do you know me?” my second question came out more of an order than a question, but it didn’t bother me.

Laughing a bit, Chase was hesitant to answer, “You told me the truth… so I suppose I shall as well…” he paused for a few minutes. He came up beside the bench and me and took a seat.

“Your mother betrayed my father… and it’s been my family’s curse to kill ever since. I wanted to meet the daughter of the woman who killed my father.” His voice was monotone. His eyes showed no emotion and voice was too flat to sound angry.

“Then why-” he cut me off before I had a chance to scream at him. “My turn… why aren’t you kind-hearted… loving like every other Cook?”

Glaring at the large bones in front of me, the name shot through my body. “Cook,” I spit out, “Because, they only get torn down, broken. To love is to be weak.” Disgusted, I walked away from the bench a little.

“Now, why are you so mellow about Mother killing Counts?” Referring to his father, I turned around to see his expression, only the lack of lights didn’t allow me to see anything but the glint of the moon form the dun light in his eyes.

“Loving is a great sign of weakness,” he mumbled to himself, staring down at the darkened floor. “Because, I loved my father, dearly. And over time, the love turned to hate. I hate him, he left me… and years ago, I realized I shouldn’t hate anything… and my heart became numb.”

My vampire eyes watched him fiddle his thumbs. For having no sentiment, he was showing many signs of nervousness. “Your turn,” I told him. My body was motionless, I had crossed my arms and now, my eyes were set on the man.

“Why would you rather be numb than hurt?” his voice ridiculed, echoing through the large room.

“Numbness…” I laughed at the word. “I have never been a woman to feel love. There is no reason, as it id with you. I’m not numb, I choose to feel nothing, to fall for nothing.”

“Why does it seem like your fighting the pain?” I asked, my voice sharp, shooting carelessly at his melting heart.

His head fired up, his black eyes were burning a hole through my head and I could see that I hit a soft spot. “What pain? I am nothing but muscle and bone.” He seemed to be convincing himself other than me. He continued to mumble, but it was hard for me to hear, “All I need is me. My heart… is racing. Why can’t it stop!?”

His mumbles weren’t stopping, he was convincing himself. Something came over me, an emotion that I’d long forgotten, sincerity. Moving forward cautiously, I tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind.

“Your turn.”

With a bitter glare, he asked me another question. “Doesn’t it ever bother you that you’re heartless?”

Heartless. The word hit me like an arrow to the heart, everything from my childhood came rushing back at me.

“What do you mean marriage?” Mother screamed through the door. Behind the bedroom door was Mother and a man, I wasn’t sure of his first name, or anything about him really. There was one this I knew, Mr. Counts came over often, and stayed in the bedroom for long periods of time.

Being eight, I didn’t understand much of what Mother did, that’s why I would sit with my ear to the door, curious.

“I am married, to a woman, I have a son, Chase… I couldn’t tell you,” Mr. Counts sounded sad. His voice was soft, silent.

Continuing the screaming, Mother gave a malicious laugh. “I’m a vampire, that has fallen in love with a mortal! You son of a bi-” she paused for a moment. “I won’t waste any more time on your useless soul, get out.”

Scurrying to my feet, I darted down the hallway and around the corner. My eye peered around the sharp edge as I watched the tall man exit the room. He was a very nice and strong man. Mother told me that he wasn’t like us; he loved the sun and ate spaghetti. She never told me why I couldn’t eat garlic or go out and play, she was trying to protect me, I thought.

“I’m sorry Daphine,” Mr. Counts turned around, looking back in the room. His voice was still soft and sad. After staring more intently, I realized that he was crying, warm tears streaked his bronze face.

“Sorry means nothing,” Mother’s voice echoed through the large house and I heard a crash. I closed my eyes and jumped. I looked back up and saw Mr. Counts lying in a puddle of blood on the floor, a knife sticking out of his chest.

“Mr. Counts?” I squeaked, Mother looking down the hall at me. At first, she looked mortified. As she continued to stare at half my head, her eyes jubilant eyes faded and turned grey.

With an evil eye, she asked me: “Julia, what are you doing?”

“I couldn’t sleep Mother,” was all I managed to say before she was in front of me, point down the next hall. A few doors down was my room, and she seemed to set on getting me out of her way.

“Now,” bitterness streamed out of her mouth as she shouted at me, pointing.

Years later, I found myself in the same position…

“Mother, try looking in the mirror! It isn’t my fault your life is horrible!” I screamed, my silver eyes piercing through her mind.

“Get out of my head,” she stated, trying hard not to shout back at me.

Ten years had past since I last saw Mr. Counts and his joyful expression when he entered the house. Mother was never the same after the night I saw him covered in blood, her voice, her eyes, her appearance became shadowed.

With wide eyes, I continued to read further into her thoughts, “That’s what you think? Because of me your life was ruined.”

I pulled my white hair out of my face and turned my back to her. “Mother, burn in hell, once your life is sold over, I want you to perish in the depths of Satin’s rule. Not only will you be miserable, but you can feel the feeling of losing something more important than your life.” I stated, my eyes set on the door in front of me. “You killed Counts, I remember. You made it impossible for me to love anyone. Counts was like my father, whom you’d also killed.

“You’re a murdered, and left me in a black hole. Burn Mother, burn.” With that, I made my way out of the large house with only the cloths on my back. Clouds were hovering above me, blocking the moon from my site, making it even harder to see.

Shaking my head, I tried to get the memories to clear, but the clouds stayed, Mother’s voice remained. “No, it doesn’t.” viciously, I answered the question, not wanting to go into detail, I asked my own. “Why are you following me… here?”

“To kill you. Julia, my mother knew about the affair, and stayed with my father, despite her feelings. But once he was killed… my mother turned to my brother, and killed him… then herself. Leaving my sister and oldest brother. My sister murdered her lover, then my brother to my sister. It’s my turn, and I do not want to kill. But I have this sensation, I must.” He answered the question with a glint in his eye, something I had seen before.

“Your thirsting for blood Chase. You have to fight it!” I told him, stepping further back from him. The smell of the maroon liquid that flowed out of the body, the warmth it provided, tasting ever so sweet.

“What?” he asked me, the gleam in his eyes disappearing.

“Did you know your mother? Who she truly was?” I asked, feeling sick at the thought of more living people having Common blood running through their systems.

“Mom was a crazy woman, who went out late, and stayed in to take care of her family in the mornings,” he started, not realizing it was his turn to ask the question. “Sometimes she would ask me these strange questions… like what about tomorrow Chase? Is your father coming home? Where is he?” all of a sudden, he stood up, his eyes flaming.

“I couldn’t control the urge to suck at my cuts… and she would slap my hand away, banding it before it became ‘infected’,” he continued, walking closer to me.

“You’re a Common, Chase. Half vampire, you have to fight the urge!” I jumped back, avoiding contact at all costs.

“And what’s your mystery, Julia? Hmm?” he hummed out the question, stopping under the roof, the moon shinning into his dark eyes.

Calming myself down, I looked at him with concern. “My father was a mortal… but he did the dirty work of a vampire,” I began, hoping Chase would listen to my words and start to relax, “I want to know if he’s truly dead… or just lied about.”

“Lies, aren’t they just the most horrible things?” Chased questioned, turning himself back around to stare at the dinosaur bones.

“Yes, they are.” Responding, I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not. I tried harder and harder to follow his words into his head, but the mind of a Common was never easy to break into. That’s why only Commons had powers, while full-blooded vampires could live forever without a single drop of blood.

Merely a legend, no one ever thought real vampires existed, or that they would mate with mortals. Commons came of half vampire and half mortal, only with special gifts that no real person, or vampire, was capable of. With power come responsibility, and some take this for granted. Others realize early on they have a gift like no other person, and thrive on blood.

Each year, around the same time, I must isolate myself, locking up my body and mind form the rest of the world, because that is the only time when I know I crave the fresh, tantalizing taste of blood. Others can go on years without it, or only need it once to survive hundreds of years on Earth. Some may get high off the smell or sight. There are also those Commons that can go their whole lives without a single drop, but live only one hundred years.

“Common… vampires?” Chase finally asked, “What do you mean?”

Taking a deep breath, I knew it would be hard to explain, my mother had no reason to tell me what I already figured out. “Half-breeds of a vampire,” I said.

“Vampires aren’t real,” he chuckled, the gleam in his blue eyes returning.

Walking up in front of him, I propelled my hand forward across his face, “Think about killing me again, and you will not live to see the sun rise,” hostile, I took a seat back on the bench.

“But, you can’t see the sun, can you?”

He shook his head in shock and disbelief realizing something. He knew everything now. “But-but-but how?”

“I don’t have time to explain… I really do not care for you at all Chase,” I waved my hand at him, motioning him to leave, but he persisted on.

“If you didn’t care, if you truly were numb, then why did you stay, and narrate the truth?” the brunette carried on.

The realization kicked in, I was no longer a heartless woman. Maybe I never really was, and somehow a man I’d never met before brought this upon me. Warm tears began to well up in my eyes, but I quickly blinked them away, “Bastard, what are you talking about? I was merely lying to you.”

“Lying the worst thing you can do,” he whispered, moving in to my ear. A sharp pain cut through my body and I smelled my blood gushing out of my stomach.

“It is!” I cried in pain as I fell over to the floor.

“It is done. You were the last one,” his voice sounded like that of his father’s, soft and hurt as he drew the dagger out of my stomach, looking it over.

With a deep sigh, I closed my eyes, trying my best to breech through my own mind. Slowly, I could feel my strength drain from my body, but it soon returned. Only a stake through the heart could kill anything with vampire blood, I thought to myself as I swung my legs over the marble floor, making Chase’s body fall to the ground.

“Hypocrite,” I gasped, still extremely weak. Standing up required too much power, and I couldn’t bare my knees buckling under me, so I spoke to him. “You liar, you need to die for lying, and burn for making me realize my true heart.”

“Ugh,” he groaned sitting up and rubbing his head, “Why aren’t you dead?” Maybe he didn’t know everything.

“Idiot!” yelling only made him stand up faster, “You can’t kill me with a knife in the stomach.”

“Stake through the heart,” his voice muttered.

Kicking his knees, I made him meet the floor once more, “Yes, of course. But you want me to die while you live your life, not knowing when you might kill again. Do you want that over your head?”

Frantic, he stayed on the ground, only sitting up to look over at my motionless body. “I want to know that my curse is over!”

“Curses will not end with you. Your children, you blood line will continue, as long as you have the vampire blood running through your veins.” I laughed, knowing he was going to kill me. Was I going to see my father? For the first time since I was eight, I could feel the fear and terror that a normal man could relate to.

“Your father… Travis Renalds, I knew him. He isn’t dead, fully alive, a doctor.” Standing up again, Chase looked down at me and held his hand out, offering a way to my feet.

Taking it, I was cautious. I didn’t want to get killed, and I wanted to know more about my father. “How?”

“He told me about you… that’s how I knew. He knew. He wanted to take you away, but thought living with a woman of your own kind could help you live life.” Setting me on the bench, to stare at the bones, Chase continued. “That’s what he told me one day, and I don’t know… I knew somehow that I needed to find you.” Swiftly, he turned back around so he was facing me.

“Now you…know.” With the words of a mortal, and the heart of a vampire, he jabbed the dagger into my heart. The world around me slowly began to disappear, and I could finally get inside his head. There were only thoughts of suicide, death, hate. He wasn’t lying when he told me he was numb. But deep in his heart, I could see something he couldn’t, the faint line of love wanting to burst through. He didn’t want to kill me… but here I was, bleeding out all over the blue and white marble floor.

“Thank you,” I choked. Coughing, I felt my grip on Earth fading faster. No longer was I heartless, numb, I knew what it was like, I knew I would again see my father. Wishing for only the best, hell was warm after all. “Good-bye Chase.”

A/N: I wrote this... well finishied last night, when i was suposed to be sleeping! Haha. Nice, i know. But, i'm looking for a beta.. becasue i'm horrible with grammar and commas and stuff... as least fixing my own :( soo anyone? you're welcome to it! haha.

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